0

Is there a difference in OTG and Usb extension cable?

I'm trying to connect my Android phone with some IoT device and when I connect it via OTG cable it works fine, but with regular extension cable it doesn't. I assume there is a reason, right?

joe
  • 1,341
  • 4
  • 21
  • 32

1 Answers1

2

USB extension cables are simply pass through cables - they have the same pin connections on both ends.

OTG cables however, stand for On The Go, and have an extra pin on the micro-USB socket. This allows devices (such as Android phones) to act as hosts to other devices (such as an IoT device).

Side note - this question is probably more suited for https://electronics.stackexchange.com.

ToniCorinne
  • 503
  • 3
  • 12
  • Oh, my bad.. Thank you sir! – joe Jun 26 '19 at 09:17
  • Worth noting that a Micro-USB to Micro-USB *extension* cable will almost certainly not pass through the ID pin. We looked for quite a bit to find an off-the-shelf one that did (to extend a maintenance port outside a housing), without success. That means that once you've used an extension cable, you won't be able to add an OTG cable downstream of it and signal the device to switch to host mode; instead you would have to start with the OTG cable, and then use a USB "A" extension cable. – Chris Stratton Jul 27 '19 at 21:42